Last week, eight local people sat around a table at the Jewish Family and Children’s Service offices . They all share a close connection to the LGBTQ community and want to become mentors to others in the Jewish community adjusting to life with a loved one who has come out.

Desperate not to lose his eyesight, a retired aerospace engineer made a hasty decision earlier this month to fly to Philadelphia, where he thought getting eye surgery would be as simple as walking into a doctor’s office.